The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-10-13

aIi tllS NOTh on Ou0 aCTcs ItS may AcIoc
never SO large ears Of corn, never
SO big heads of wheat, he would
remain poor. The church Of God has
bestowed its chief care on one acre and
has raised splendid men and women in
that small inclosure, but the field is the
world That means North and South
America, Europe, Asia ard Africa, and
all the islands of the sea. 1t is as though
after a great battle there were left so, 600
wounded and dying on the field, and
three surgeons gave all their time to
three patients under their charge. The
major general comes in and says to the
doctors: "Come out here and look at the
nearly $4,000 dying for lack of surgical
attendance" No." gay the three doc
tors, standing there, tanning their pa
tients, 1--WE have three important cases
here and we are attending TO them, and
when we are not positively busy with
their wounds, it takes all our time to
keep the flies off. - In this awful battle
of sin and sorrow. where millions have
fallen on millions, do not let us spend all
our time in taking care of few people,
and when the command comes: $50 into
the world, - say practically: ''No, l can
not go; l have here few choice cases,
and l am busy keeping off the flies.
There are multitudes today who have
never had any Christian worker look
them in the eye and with earnestness iii
the accentuation say, Gomez or they
would long ago have been in the king
dom. Ny friends, religion is either a
sham or tremendous reality. If it be a
sham, let us disband our churches and
Christian association. If it be reality,
then great populations are on the way to
the bar of God untitled for the ordeal,
and what are we doing?
In order to reach the multitude of out
siders we must drop all technicalities out
of our religion. When we talk to people
about the hypostatic union and French
EncyclopedianisIn, and Erastinianism and
COmplutensianism, we are as impolltlc
and little understood as if a physician
should talk to an ordinary patient about
the pericardium and intercostal muscle
and scorbutic symptoms. Many of US
come out of the theological seminaries so
loaded up that we take the first ten years
to show our people how much we know,
and the next ten years get our people to
know as much as we know, and at the
end find that neither of us know anything
as we ought to know. Here are hundreds
and thousands of SHINING, struggling and
dying people, who need to realize just one
thiDg-that Jesus Christ came to save
them, and will save them now. But we
go into profound and elaborate defini-
ton of what justification is, and after all
the work there are not, outside of the
n1 < ~, l,n
United States who can tell what justifica-
ton is. | viii read you the definition:
justification is purely forensic act,
the act of judge sitting in the forum,
in which the Supreme Ruler and Judge,
who is accountable to none, and who
alone knows the manner in which the
ends of His universal government can
best be obtained, reckonS that which was
done by the substitute in the same man
ner as If it had been done by those who
believe in the substitute, and not on
account of anything done by them, but
purely on account of this gracious method
of reckoning, grants them the full renis-
sion OF their sins. "
Now, what is justification? l will tell
you what justification is-when sinner
believes God let's him off. One summer
in Connecticut went to a large factory,
and I saw over the door written the words;
''No Admittance. | entered and saw
over the next door: 'No Admittance -
OF course 1 entered. I got inside and
found it pin factory, and they were
making pins, very serviceable, fine and
useful pins. So the spirit of exclusivenesS
has practically written over the outside
door of many a church: "No Admittance. >
And il the stranger enters he finds prac
tically written over the second door: 0NC
Admittance. And if he goes in, ovel
all the pew doors seems written: ''NC
( Admittance:" while the minister stands
in the pulpit, hammering out his little
niceties of belief, pounding out the techni
I calities of religion, making pins. In the
most practical, common sense way, anC
laying aside the non-essentials and til,
hard definitions Of religion, go out on tn,
God given mission, telling the people
what they need, and when and how they
can get it.
Comparatively little effort as yet ha
been made to save that large class of Cer
sons in our midst called skeptics, and Ii,
who goes to work here will not be build
ing upon another mans foundation
There is q great multitude of them, The
are afraid Of us and our churches, for tn
reason we don't know how to treat them
One of this class met Christ, and hea
with what tenderness and pathos an(
beauty and success Christ dealt with him
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God witt
all thy heart and with all thy soul ant
with all thy mind and with all til,
strength. This is the first commandment
and the second is like to this, namely
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself
There is no other commandment create
than this. And the scribe said to him
Wei, master, thou hast said the truth
for there is one God, and to love hin
with all the heart and all the understand
ing and all the soul and all the strengt
is more than whole burnt offerings an
sacrifices. And when Jesus saw tha
he answered discreetly he said unto him
Thou art not far from the kingdom O
God" So a skeptic was saved in on
interview. But few Christian peopl
treat the skeptic in that way. Instead {
taking hold of him with the gentle han
of love we are apt to take him with ii
iron pincers of ecclesiasticism.
You would not be SO rough on tha
man ii you knew by what process he La
lost his faith in Christianity. ! hav
known men skeptical from the fact thu
they grew up iii houses where TeiigiO
was overdone. Sunday was the mo;
awful day of the week. They had It
ligion driven into them with a tri{
hammer; they were surfeited with praye
meetings; they were stuffed and choke
with catechisms; they were often tol
, they were the worst boys the parent
ever knew because they liked to rio
, down hill better than to read Bunyan
, Pilgrims Progress" Whenever fatht
, and mother talked of religion they dre'
down the corners of their mouth an
rolled up their eyes. If any one thin
: viii send boy or girl 10 perditiop soonC
: than another. that is it. If l had ha
: such father and mother l fear l shoul
| have been an infidel.
/ C.hars were tripped up of siIepticisl
a "a